(NEWS) Britain, Spain To Boycott Jerusalem Meet

2:30 PM by 
"Israel's tourism minister said Britain and Spain are refusing to attend a biannual international conference because it will be held in Jerusalem.

Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov said it is the second time the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development conference is to be held outside of Paris, Haaretz reported Tuesday.

'OECD officials demanded that we not bring the delegates to East Jerusalem or that we move the conference to Tel Aviv,' Misezhnikov told the newspaper. 'If we agreed to that, they promised to send many delegates. We held a meeting with the Foreign Ministry and decided to reject' the Tel Aviv idea, he said.

Misezhnikov said among the countries expected to participate in the conference are Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, South Africa, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Estonia and Turkey.

The conference is set for Oct. 20-22." (source)